Development and Democracy

IT for Change's work in the area of development and democracy critically examines the digital paradigms of development and the opportunities and challenges it presents for deepening democracy, global justice and citizen rights. We believe that an equitable information society can flourish only through inclusive and informed debate, involving all stakeholders, especially from the global South. Given the prevalence of Northern perspectives and market-centric thinking in current ICTs for development approaches, we have consciously attempted to articulate alternatives through our research and policy engagement. Techno-architectures must be designed and governed for democratising power, so that countries, communities and individuals at the peripheries can renegotiate their place in the world. From concerns spanning e-governance, public information systems and data in governance to emerging policies in global trade, data governance and the very architectures of Internet policy, ideas of justice must be coded into the legal-institutional architectures of digital technology.

RECENT

It is becoming increasingly evident that the far reaching impacts of machine learning and AI demand immediate attention to the digitalisation of society itself. AI is not just another technology that has emerged on the horizon. On the contrary, it is a general purpose technology akin to electricity or the internal…

The US based Multinational Corporation (MNC) Walmart’s acquisition of Flipkart undermines India’s economic and digital sovereignty and the livelihood of millions in India. If the $ 16 billion deal goes…

This report presents emerging insights from the research studies being undertaken under the project. Covering 14 countries and a range of domains and sectors, it examines the current trends in platformization, mapping the emerging policy responses and challenges.

Read more from the 'Policy Frameworks for Digital Platforms' research…

E-commerce platforms have radically reorganized economic activity, given rise to new structures of intermediation and changed the conception of global trade altogether. And yet structural inequities in opportunities and access between actors in developed and developing nations continue to persist. The possibilities for the Internet to be the…

Anita Gurumurthy was invited to participate in the 2018 United Nations Public Service Forum hosted by the Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) at Marrakesh, The Kingdom of Morocco from June 21, 2018 to June 23, 2018.The theme of the conference was “Transforming governance to realize the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)”.…

In March 2018, the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights invited all stakeholders to provide input on human rights challenges relating to the right to privacy in the digital age, including on principles, standards and best practices with regard to the promotion and protection of the right to privacy. IT for Change's response calls…